Filling cap for use with valved fountain pen



Jan. 13, 1959 E. KEIRMAN FILLING CAP FOR USE WITH VALVED FOUNTAIN PEN Filed July 13, 1953 INVENTOR [EA/E5 r KER/WW United States Patent FILLING CAP FOR USE WITH VALVED FOUNTAIN PEN Ernest Kerman, Tel-Aviv, Israel Application July 13, 1953, Serial No. 367,562

1 Claim. (Cl. 120-46) The purpose of my invention is to enable the making of fountain pens having a tap (or similar means) at both ends. Thus enabling pens cleaning by a stream of water being passed therethrough. This being made practical by having the parts most liable to spoilage (the filling mechanism), carried on the outside of the pen as a pen cap.

Further extra supplementary objectives possible to achieve by aid of my invention are an absolutely maximum ink carrying capacity, an elimination of spoilage of inside filling mechanisms, the elimination of ink leaking from the pens owing to a change of atmospheric pressure (such as occurs when taking a trip by plane), and others.

In my invention therefore there is a tap or the like controlling the ink fiow situated above the nib and which can be regulated from outside the pen, on the side thereof, without taking apart the parts of the pen (excepting the cap or cover, covering the nib when not writing), or spilling any ink out of the pen.

This tap can be constructed in many different ways, provided that it fulfills the conditions described above, and also does not noteworthily leak air or ink at the place Where the tap parts can be reached from outside the pen. The preferred model of tap is simply a screw terminating in a cone, said cone being seated in a cone seat over which the ink must flow in order to reach the nib.

Obviously, were the screw screwed tight, a mere unscrewing slightly of the screw would increase the ink flow provided the ink channels to the nib above and below the tap were sulficiently broad. (Had not been made very thin especially to serve as sole control mechanism regulating the ink fiow to the nib.)

Thus a very important inconvenience in writing with a fountain pen is eliminated. This is a stoppage of the proper flow of the ink, owing to a diminution of the channels width by deposits of dry matter owing to evaporation of the ink.

As an ink is, and must be, a liquid or a paste containing a solid, this inconvenience cannot be eliminated by a novel ink.

A further improvement possible to achieve by means of my invention is the addition to the pen of a second tap situated above the first, and communicating to the outside air.

In effect a momentary opening and immediate closing of such a second tap is sufficient to reduce the vacuum inside the pen, or to flush the pen depending on the duration of time during which such a second tap is open. The second tap may also be opened when the first remains closed.

It is preferred to situate the second tap at the tip of the pen (opposite the tip carrying the nib), it then being possible to eliminate from inside the pen all ink filling mechanisms.

The ink is then preferably filled into the pen by suction, though of course a syringe filling of the pen through the second (upper) tap is possible.

2,868,172 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 The suction filling is preferably effected by attaching to the second tap (at the place of communication to the outside air) a means sucking air out of the pen.

Preferably the means is simply a rubber (or plastic or the like) piece of tubing which on being squeezed lets air out of a one way valve to the outside of pen, and on being released sucks air out of the pen, through another one way valve.

Further improvements are:

Where the tube, bulb, or the like serve also as the cap or cover to the pens nib, during the time when the pen is not in use and is carried inside a pocket.

Where the tip of a pens clip, which normally serves to clasp the pen to the side of the pocket, is made in a shape or form to serve as a key for use in opening and closing the pens adjustable tap, or taps, and the like.

The pen parts should preferably be made of noncorroding materials such as metals which do not corrode, ebonite, plastic materials and the like. The nib is preferably flat and made of gold which contains some irridium in the tip.

The best benefits of my invention are obtained by the construction of a pen of transparent unbreakable materials, such as transparent plastic materials. Then it is possible to fill the tap according to sightand also to see inside the pen and therefore to clean it whenever this is necessary. Obviously a number of variations of models constructed according to my invention may be very successful and may simply cater to different tastes and circumstances. For example a pen with two taps only and with no valves, if transparent, may be preferred by a number of people. Others may prefer a pen having an additional valve preventing ink outflow to the suction mechanism after the filling of the pen has been efiected. The second model is obviously better for careless people, the blind, those with poor eyesight, and the like.

" My invention is further illustrated and described with reference to the accompanying drawing where:

Fig. 1 is a cross section of a fountain pen in accordance with my invention (where the cap, or cover for the nib, is in position for use as an external air pump, and the pen is prepared for the operation of filling with ink).

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the cap (orcover for the nib) of the pen, when its elements are re-assembled in readiness for use in covering the nib, in order to enable the pocketing of the pen.

In the drawings in Fig. 1, we see a cross-section of a pen with an ordinary flat nib 1 (which nib is shown whole and not sectioned), mounted in an unthreaded tip 2 which contains on its inside a core 3 which holds tightly the nib 1. The core 3 has a central channel 4 for the passage of ink to the nib 1. The pen tip 2 is screwed into the body of the pen 5 which at. its lower extremity allows ink to pass to channel 4 of the core 3 through a screw-tap 6. The screw-tap 6 is controlled by inserting a suitably shaped object into the hole 7 and thereafter twisting. The pen clip 8 terminates with a tip similar to that of a screw driver and can be used for insertion in hole 7 and manipulation of the screw-tap 6. The body of the pen 5 carries at its upper extremity a head 9 which contains another screw-tap 10. The manipulation of the screw-tap It) is through a hole 111 situated on the side of head 9.

Opening of the screw-tap 10 allows air to pass through channels 12 and 13 to the central ink reservoir of the pen 14 which contains the ink (the ink is not shown in the drawing). This can be done on unscrewing the disc 15 from the other parts of the pen. Above the head 9 and screwed onto it, in Fig. 1, is seen the air outlet valve disc 15 which carries in its centre a one way air valve 16.

In Fig. 1 we see the disc 15 screwed at its upper extremity to a hollow ring 17 which carries around itself the lower end of the simple rubber tube 18. The compression of the tube 13 by the fingers and the subsequent loosening of the fingers causes the tube 18 to alternatively contract and expand and this causes the filling of the pen with ink, as the air is thereby pumped out of the reservoir 14. At its upper end the tube 18 is attached to disc 19 which carries at its centre a one way air valve 2t In Fig, 2 we see that disc 15 (as shown in Fig. .1), has been unscrewed from the pens head 9 and the hollow ring 17, and has been screwed atop disc 19. This has been done after the ring 21 of clip 8 has been placed atop disc 19. The whole, including ring 21, being covered by a pen cap cover plug 22, which is screwed atop disc 15, and covers everything down to the clip.

Thus to till a pen with ink, parts of the pens cap, or nib cover, are taken apart, thereafter the taps 6 and are opened and the pens cap suitably reassembled is used as an air pump to enable the filling of the pen with ink.

As is seen from all the above, the only parts that can spoil during a mans life (if accidental crushing or breaking is not counted), are contained in the cap, or nib cover, and can most easily and cheaply be repaired or replaced by the pen owner without the use of any extra tools. The sole tool is the screw driver tip of the clip 8, which can easily be disassembled from the pen whenever desired.

Further as the screw-taps 6 and 10 are not continually being turned on and off, most of the turning being done only on filling, they have an extremely long life.

The rubber tube 18 can of course be fastened tightly to the ring 17 and the discjl9, by any suitable means, like wire bands, fiat metal bands and the lilo. They are not however shown in the drawing as a suitable tight fitting rubber tube may be used without any clamping attaching means. They have therefore been omitted for the purpose of clarity of the drawing. I

There are of course other embodiments of my invention. Thus the pen cap can obviously be used for filling when attached to either end of a pen. The cap itself may be used at the end of the pen opposite the writing part in two ways, or both straight and upside down.

Thus the air, or air and ink, may pass to the cap through its one way valve a finger or thumb covering the opposite extremity of the cap and serving as exhaust valve during the filling.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

For use with a fountain pen having, for filling purposes, an ink receiving opening at one end and an air escape opening at the opposite end, a hollow cap adapted to fit over said escape opening end for filling said pen by suction, said cap being flexible whereby it may be manually squeezed, said cap having attached thereto a one-way valve, said one way being in a direction outward of the pen to which the cap attaches, when in position for filling, whereby squeezing and then release of the cap causes air to be exhausted from said pen through said air escape opening and ink to be sucked in through said ink receiving opening, said one way valve attached to said cap being located at one end of the cap and said cap being otherwise entirely empty whereby said cap may be positioned over the writing and of the fountain pen to protect said writing end when the pen is not being used.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 58,732 Metten Oct. 9, 1866 178,914 Douglass June 20, 1876 423,339 Pearse u Mar. 11, 1890 815,218 Robinson Mar. 13, 1906 972,301 V/ade Oct. 11, 1910 1,453,152 McVicker Apr, 24, 1923 2,010,950 Hardesty Aug. 13, 1935 2,099,891 Iohannesson Nov; 23, 1937 2,249,961 Kalman July 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 948,458 France Jan. 31, 1949 

